Frozen consumer-heatable pastry products that contain sweet fillings are well known and include products such as TOASTER STRUDEL brand pastries, and the like. These pastry products are sold to the consumer in frozen form for heating by the consumer in a toaster or microwave oven. Typically, the pastries contain a sweet filing such as a fruit or spice flavored jelly, for example, cherry, cinnamon, apple, and the like. In many instances they often also include icing which may be pre-applied or applied by the consumer after reheating the pastry product. Typically, consumer-reheatable pastry products are low in fiber, for example, containing less than about 1 gram of fiber per 54 gram serving.
With the push for high fiber diets, the reformulation of well-known food products (e.g., consumer-heatable pastry products) to achieve higher levels of dietary fiber is desirable and is an ongoing challenge for food scientists. In many instances, the simple addition of fiber to a food product results in the deterioration of certain desirable organoleptic properties that are associated with the food product. The addition of fiber may also cause significant problems in food processing operations, for example, commercial dough sheeting processes where the rheological properties of the dough may be greatly affected by the addition of dietary fiber.
In view of the foregoing, what is desired is consumer-heatable pastry product that contains a high level of fiber and that maintains desirable organoleptic properties and processing characteristics.